Tempe museum celebrates city’s African-American history

Black History Month, celebrated each February, originated in 1926 by Black American scholar Dr. Carter G. Woodson “as a way to bring to light the contributions of Black people to American history.”

Since 2011, the Tempe History Museum has participated in Black History Month with its own events focused on local history.

Regrettably, the museum’s archives have a scant record of African-Americans in Tempe. In 2008, the museum began a concerted effort to remedy that.

Amy Douglass, museum manager, created the African-American Advisory Group “to create a forum to collect and preserve the African-American history of Tempe, and to promote those stories for the benefit of the community.”

Community leaders were enlisted to identify people in the area who could provide valuable information and a perspective on Tempe African-American history.

Since then, the museum and Jared Smith, curator of history, have been researching the contribution and participation of Blacks in Tempe, an exercise that has included building a library of oral histories, one of the more valuable direct sources for better learning about and understanding of local history.

More than 30 oral-history interviews have been conducted. Ultimately they all will be transcribed and accessible to the public.

What we have learned from the interviews is how long it took for Blacks to establish a presence in Tempe.

Like many Valley cities, Tempe was essentially closed to Blacks for at least its first 50 years.

While African-Americans were not allowed to reside in Tempe, their labor on farms and ranches was needed. Blacks were brought in to work Tempe’s farms and ranches during the day and send packing at night.

James Burns, former curator of history, said part of the challenge of unearthing accounts of African-Americans in early Tempe is finding the few who lived here.

“We know as late as 1950 there were only 32 African-Americans in Tempe,” he said.

The city had 7,684 residents that year.

Museum program

Saturday, the Tempe History Museum will present an evening celebrating African-American history. The evening will feature works by local artists in the Black community, performances of African-American spirituals by the Hester Sisters and contemporary jazz by New Groove. Winners of a Tempe high-school essay contest will be announced.

The Archer-Ragsdale Arizona Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc. will make a presentation about the famed Black air squadron of World War II.

Elmer Green will recite Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial.

Attendees can be assured of an engaging, entertaining and enlightening evening — and it’s all free.

Details: www.tempe.gov/index.aspx?page=1355 or 480-350-5100.

Jay Mark assists the Tempe History Museum with exhibit design. Reach him at jaymark@twtdbooks.com

Posting a comment to our website allows you to join in on the conversation. Share your story and unique perspective with members of the azcentral.com community.

Comments posted via facebook:

► Join the Discussion

azcentral.com has switched to the Facebook comment system on its blogs. Existing blog comments will display, but new comments will only be accepted via the Facebook comment system. To begin commenting, you must be logged into an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. While we welcome you to join conversations, readers are responsible for their comments and abuse of this privilege will not be tolerated. We reserve the right, without warning or notification, to remove comments and block users judged to violate our Terms of Service and Rules of Engagement. Facebook comments FAQ

Join thousands of azcentral.com fans on Facebook and get the day's most popular and talked-about Valley news, sports, entertainment and more - right in your newsfeed. You'll see what others are saying about the hot topics of the day.